Bernanke Says Fed Doesn’t Expect Return to a Recession in U.S.

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.
Bernanke said policy makers believe the U.S. probably won’t fall
back into a recession even as the economy remains too weak to
bring down the jobless rate.

“We see employment, which is one of the key indicators of
recession, still growing, so we expect the economy to continue
to grow,” Bernanke said in response to audience questions after
a speech in Indianapolis. “We’re not expecting a recession.”

Bernanke said he is concerned economic growth of 1.5
percent to 2 percent “is not fast enough to lower the
unemployment rate” because it only provides enough jobs for
those entering the labor force and “doesn’t do anything to eat
into the backlog of the unemployed.”